A MarketPlace of Ideas

Right now with a pencil and paper can you tell me approximately how many people die every year in the USA?  

You should be able to do a good job of approximating this number without looking anything up.  This is an exercise in common sense math applied to a problem where the answer can be verified easily.   It is to demonstrate how math can and should be used to do reality checks on things you hear on the news and read wherever.

Here is how to do the approximation

1) assume to first order that the population is not growing.  Therefore:   #Births ~= #Deaths

2) Life expectancy is about 70 years.  Therefore divide up the population into 70 bins.  The probability you are in any one of the 70 bins is a uniform 1/70 to first approximation.

Therefore people are born march up in age to age 70 and die.  Remember 70 is an average so it accounts for the untimely demise of some individuals.

Thus the number of deaths per year in the USA ~= 300 million / 70 =  4.28 million people per year die

Checking CIA FactBook

Thus the measured death rate = 

14.14 * 300,000,000/1000=4,240,000

Pretty close!

Now you know why I’m so damned sure of myself on certain issues.  Using logic and math one can often blow gaping holes in political arguments. Once I do this often in my mind the politician is also discredited to a degree or another.  Global warming has lent itself to this type of argument.  It has been discredited totally in my calculations.

Pim Fortuyn - quite an interesting character.   From wikipedia:

He said he was neither right wing nor left wing, asked for more openness in politics, and expressed his distaste for what he called “subsidy socialism”. He furthermore criticised the media as a Siamese twin of the government.

This of course is comical in that ALL socialism is Subsidy-Socialism.  ALL of it.  Just because I magically deign that one cause is the grandest of them all does not make it so.  One mans great cause is another mans cursed plague.  There is only one true great cause and that is of having the very least government possible.  This is because one mans non-cause is not another mans hated cause.

Socialism is bad.  It is corruption institutionalized.  This is because ALL socialism is subsidy-socialism.

I’m going to put a compendium of remedies for headaches in this post.  I get enough vascular headaches that I’ve learned what’s effective at getting rid of them.   In my case especially in past years I have a high natural level of dopamine in my system.  This naturally occurring neurochemical is responsible for aggressive focus.  

I find that after athetically aggressive activities I can end up waking up with a headache day after day.  Wow is that wearing.  After further research I determined that anything that elevates my dopamine to higher levels will many times result in a headache the next morning when I wake up.  Very similar to a rebound effect that you get when you use coffee and then don’t drink it.

1) Smoke a cigarette - No need to inhale here.  Save your lungs.  You can simply use it like a cigar.  The nicotene dissolves in the saliva and is absorbed.   Use only when you have a headache and you’ll find cigarettes can be your friend instead of your enemy.

2) Up your blood sugar level.  If your blood sugar is low its very hard to rid yourself of a headache.

3) Drink some coffee - This drug is a monkey on my back.  I found it messes with my heart rate / blood pressure / blood sugar / sleep habits.  I’ve had to give it up.  Maybe you are lucky and do not have a problem with it.  I’ve always been an adrenaline driven person.  Caffiene is an adrenaline re-uptake inhibitor.  All this said if I have a real banger caffiene can help.  This is a last resort item for me.

4)  Exercise - By warming up my brain I can change the blood flows and increase the dopamine in my brain.  This by far the most effective headache killer.   It requires more time though.   Dangerous side effect is that you’ll keep in really good shape.  In fact now that I have mellowed a little bit I’ve found myself in need of more conditioning ! 

According to Hollywood Modul Geffen the Clintons are facil liars.  My immediate reaction was “TELL ME SOMETHING I DO NOT KNOW” ….which then he immediatedly did.  He added that they do it with ease.

       “mmm cherry flavored, its not just for breakfast anymore”

I thought they did not do it at all.  My thinking was Hillary was borderline gay and Bill was not up for any strap-on action.  Maybe she has Bill prancing around the house in the apron serving teas and cookies.  While I dissagree with Bills policies as much as Bush-Haters disagree with Bush I have a sugar addiction and would visit with Bill.  Hopefully Hillary won’t be home.  I’ve heard she spends most of her time off sharpening her fingernails on a chalkboard.

“In the butt Bob”